Creating added value with open data

News from Oct. 12, 2018

State Secretary Christian Rickerts opened the yearly meet-up between public administration and the open data community at the Berlin Open Data Day (BODDy) 2018. In cooperation between the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, Fraunhofer FOKUS, and the Competence Center Public IT, this year’s BODDy took place on October 11, 2018.

This year, the agenda of the event followed the motto “Creating added value with open data”. Through presentations and workshops, attendees got an idea of how we are using open data to cope with the traffic and energy transitions and how we can utilize new technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence for open data.

Guest speakers included open data enthusiasts in public administration as well as members of the community presenting various examples of applications for open data. The panel discussion about public data as a lucrative source of revenue versus an invaluable public good featured renowned speakers from public administration and the start-up scene. In dedicated afternoon workshops, technology experts presented their cutting-edge approaches and instruments for data preparation and provision.

Fraunhofer FOKUS showcased innovative tools for the easy processing and deployment of high-quality data and tested them with the participants at the event. Another BODDy highlight was the best-practice example of the City of Vienna with their open data ecosystem and smart-city concept.

State Secretary Christian Rickerts opened the yearly meet-up between the open data community and Berlin’s administration with a welcome address and his presentation of the open data strategy of the Land Berlin. “Open data needs room for debate, multiplication, and consulting. The BODDy event offers public administrators the opportunity to engage with the open data community in order to inch closer to the vision of the data ecosystem as a resource provider for future economic growth”, said the State Secretary of the Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises.

Prof. Dr. Ina Schieferdecker, director of Fraunhofer FOKUS, emphasized: “The added value of open data lies, apart from transparence and participation, in the strengthening of the economy through new or expanded business opportunities. Opening the city to open data is an important aspect for smart city topics, for the development of e-government solutions and other technological innovations, in order to promote the digital transformation of this city.”